Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese international video game company based in Kyoto. It makes, sells, and creates video games and video game consoles.
Nintendo was started in 1889 by a skilled worker named Fusajiro Yamauchi, who made handmade hanafuda playing cards. Over time, the company tried different businesses and became a public company. In the 1960s, Nintendo began making toys, and later, video games. The company created its first arcade games in the 1970s and released its first system, the Color TV-Game, in 1977. In the 1980s, Nintendo became very popular worldwide after releasing the arcade game Donkey Kong (1981) and the Nintendo Entertainment System, which was launched with Super Mario Bros. in 1985 outside of Japan.
Since then, Nintendo has made some of the most popular consoles in the video game industry, including the Game Boy (1989), the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1991), the Game Boy Advance (2001), the Nintendo DS (2004), the Wii (2006), and the Nintendo Switch (2017). The company has created or sold many well-known game series, such as Mario, Donkey Kong, The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, Super Smash Bros., Animal Crossing, Splatoon, Metroid, Kirby, and Star Fox. Mario, Nintendo’s main character, is one of the most famous fictional characters. Other characters, like Luigi, Donkey Kong, Samus Aran, Link, Kirby, Pikachu, and Fox McCloud, are also widely recognized. Films and a theme park area based on Nintendo’s games have been made.
As of May 2025, Nintendo’s game consoles have sold more than 860 million units worldwide, and over 5.9 billion games have been sold. The company owns many businesses in Japan and around the world, as well as other companies that make games for Nintendo, such as HAL Laboratory, Intelligent Systems, and Game Freak. Nintendo is one of the wealthiest and most valuable companies in Japan.
History
Nintendo was founded as Nintendo Koppai on September 23, 1889, by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi in Shimogyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. It began as a business that was not officially registered as a company and made and sold Japanese playing cards, called karuta, including hanafuda, or "flower cards." The name "Nintendo" is often thought to mean "leave luck to heaven," but there is no historical proof of this. Another idea is that it means "the temple of free hanafuda," but even Yamauchi's descendants do not know the true meaning.
Hanafuda became popular after Japan banned most gambling in 1882, but allowed hanafuda. Sales of these cards were popular in gaming parlors run by the yakuza in Kyoto. Other card makers left the market because they did not want to be linked to crime, but Yamauchi continued and became the main producer of hanafuda in a few years. As hanafuda grew in popularity, Yamauchi hired helpers to make more cards to meet demand. However, the business faced money problems because it focused on a small market, the slow and expensive production, high prices, and the cards lasting a long time, which reduced the need to buy new ones. To solve this, Nintendo made a cheaper, lower-quality card line called Tengu and sold cards in other cities like Osaka, where card games were profitable. Local merchants liked the idea of selling new decks regularly, which avoided suspicion that old cards were being reused.
Nintendo's first Western-style card deck was sold in 1902, though some records say 1907, after the Russo-Japanese War. These cards were meant for export but became popular in Japan and abroad. At this time, the business called itself Marufuku Nintendo Card Co. The war caused problems for leisure companies, including new taxes on playing cards. Nintendo survived and in 1907 partnered with Nihon Senbai, later known as Japan Tobacco, to sell cards in cigarette stores. A 1915 promotional calendar from the Taishō era shows the business was named Yamauchi Nintendo but still used the Marufuku Nintendo Co. brand for its cards.
Japanese culture required Yamauchi to adopt his son-in-law to ensure the family business continued after his retirement. In 1907, Sekiryo Kaneda took the Yamauchi name and led the business in 1929. By then, Nintendo was the largest playing card company in Japan.
In 1933, Kaneda formed a partnership called Yamauchi Nintendo & Co., Ltd. and built a new headquarters near the original building, near the Toba-kaidō train station. Because Kaneda and Yamauchi's daughter had no sons, Kaneda planned to adopt his son-in-law, Shikanojo Inaba, an artist and father of his grandson, Hiroshi, born in 1927. However, Inaba left the family and company, so Hiroshi became Kaneda's successor.
World War II hurt Nintendo because Japanese authorities banned foreign card games, and people focused less on recreation. During this time, Hiroshi's wife, Michiko Inaba, from a wealthy family, gave the company financial help. In 1947, Kaneda started Marufuku Co., Ltd., which handled Nintendo's sales and marketing. This company later became Nintendo Co., Ltd., in Kyoto.
In 1950, Hiroshi Yamauchi became president after Kaneda's health worsened. He changed the company name to Nintendo Playing Card Co., Ltd. in 1951 and moved manufacturing operations to Kamitakamatsu-cho, Kyoto, in 1952. In 1953, Nintendo became the first company in Japan to mass-produce plastic playing cards. Some employees worried about these changes, leading to a strike, but Hiroshi dismissed some workers who opposed the changes.
In 1959, Nintendo moved its headquarters to Kamitakamatsu-cho, Kyoto. The company partnered with Walt Disney Productions to include Disney characters on playing cards, which helped sell more cards to children. Nintendo used backing paper to automate card production and sold cards in toy stores. By 1961, Nintendo had a Tokyo branch and sold over 1.5 million card packs, using TV ads to promote its products. In 1962, Nintendo became a public company by listing its stock on the Osaka and Kyoto stock exchanges. The company changed its name to Nintendo & Co., Ltd. and started making games in addition to playing cards.
In 1964, Nintendo earned ¥150 million. However, the company became too dependent on the children's market because of Disney cards, while adult card sales dropped due to changing interests in hobbies like pachinko and bowling. After the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Nintendo's stock price fell to ¥60, its lowest level.
In 1965, Nintendo hired Gunpei Yokoi to maintain its card-making machines. In 1969, Yamauchi increased investment in a research and development department led by Hiroshi Imanishi. Yokoi was moved to this department and later oversaw the games division. During this time, Nintendo built a new plant in Uji, near Kyoto, and sold tabletop games like chess and mahjong under the Nippon Game brand.
In 1970, Nintendo's stock was listed on the first section of the Osaka Stock Exchange, and its headquarters was rebuilt and expanded. This year marked a major change for Nintendo, as it released Japan's first electronic toy, the Beam Gun, designed by Masayuki Uem
Products
Nintendo's main areas of work include researching, creating, making, and selling entertainment products, such as video game software and hardware, as well as card games. Its primary markets are Japan, America, and Europe, with more than 70% of all sales coming from America and Europe. As of May 2025, Nintendo's game consoles have sold over 860 million units, and more than 5.9 billion video games have been sold worldwide.
Starting in 1977 with the Color TV-Game, Nintendo has made and sold home, handheld, dedicated, and hybrid consoles. In the 1980s, its first successful consoles were the Game & Watch and the Nintendo Entertainment System. In the 1990s, Nintendo introduced new home consoles, including the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and the Nintendo 64, and achieved global success with the Game Boy handheld console. In the 2000s, Nintendo gained wide success again with the Nintendo DS and the Wii. These consoles come with many accessories and controllers, such as the NES Zapper, the Game Boy Camera, the Super NES Mouse, the Rumble Pak, the Wii MotionPlus, the Wii U Pro Controller, and the Switch Pro Controller.
Nintendo's first electronic games were arcade games. EVR Race (1975) was the company's first electromechanical game, and Donkey Kong (1981) was the first platform game ever made. Since then, Nintendo and other companies have created and sold many video games for Nintendo's consoles. Nintendo's games are sold on physical media like optical discs and cartridges, as well as online through services such as the Nintendo eShop and the Nintendo Network.
Corporate structure
Nintendo’s research and development work is organized into three main groups:
The Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development division is the main group responsible for creating and managing video game software. It was formed in 2015 by combining two earlier groups: Entertainment Analysis & Development and Software Planning & Development. Led by Shinya Takahashi, this group has the most employees at Nintendo, with over 800 people working as engineers, producers, directors, and designers.
The Nintendo Platform Technology Development division was created by combining two earlier groups: Integrated Research & Development (IRD) and System Development (SDD). Led by Ko Shiota, this group designs hardware, develops Nintendo’s operating systems, and manages the Nintendo Network.
The Nintendo Business Development division was formed after Nintendo began making games for smart devices like phones and tablets. This group works on improving Nintendo’s business model for video game systems and oversees game development for smart devices.
Important people on the board include Shigeru Miyamoto, Satoru Shibata, and Chris Meledandri, who is the CEO of Illumination Entertainment. Key executives include Yoshiaki Koizumi, Takashi Tezuka, and others from the Entertainment Planning & Development division.
Nintendo Co., Ltd. is based in Kyoto, Japan, and manages the company’s global operations and activities in Japan. Two major subsidiaries, Nintendo of America and Nintendo of Europe, handle operations in North America and Europe. In 2000, Nintendo moved its headquarters to Minami-ku, Kyoto, after previously being in Higashiyama-ku.
Nintendo of America was started in 1980. Hiroshi Yamauchi, Nintendo’s president, chose his son-in-law, Minoru Arakawa, to lead the new company. Arakawa hired his wife, Yoko Yamauchi, as the first employee. The Arakawa family moved to New York to find an office because the city was a major business center. Nintendo provided initial funding and games for the U.S. market, which was already a large entertainment industry. Workers in New Jersey helped manage game hardware sent from Japan.
In late 1980, Nintendo of America partnered with Far East Video, a company based in Seattle that sold arcade games. Far East Video’s founders, Ron Judy and Al Stone, promised to sell all of Nintendo’s games if the company made better ones. Nintendo sent a large order of 3,000 Radar Scope arcade machines to the U.S., but the game failed, causing financial problems. Far East Video borrowed money to help, but Nintendo struggled.
To reduce stress and shipping delays, Nintendo of America moved to Seattle, which is closer to Japan. A warehouse in Tukwila, owned by Mario Segale, became the company’s base. The warehouse was managed by Don James, who later hired Howard Phillips. For a time, the company had fewer than 10 employees, handling sales, marketing, and distribution.
Nintendo of America faced financial challenges, and Arakawa asked Nintendo’s president, Yamauchi, to send top talent to create games for the U.S. market. Yamauchi sent Shigeru Miyamoto, a young assistant with no engineering experience. Miyamoto’s first game, Donkey Kong, became a huge success, helping Nintendo recover financially. The profits from Donkey Kong allowed Nintendo to buy land in Redmond, Washington, and launch the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, which helped revive the video game industry after a major crash in 1983.
In 1993, Nintendo of America introduced the Nintendo Gateway System, an early form of in-flight entertainment used by airlines and hotels. Over time, Nintendo’s operations in the U.S. were managed from Redwood City, California. Today, Nintendo’s distribution centers include Nintendo Atlanta in Georgia and Nintendo North Bend in Washington. As of 2007, the North Bend facility processes over 20,000 orders daily for customers, including retailers and individuals who buy Nintendo products online. Nintendo of America also has a branch in Canada.
Marketing
Nintendo of America has used many famous marketing campaigns to show what its brand stands for. One of its earliest and most well-known slogans was "Now you're playing with power!" This was used to promote the Nintendo Entertainment System. Later, the slogan changed to "SUPER power" for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and "PORTABLE power" for the Game Boy.
In 1994, Nintendo launched a campaign called "Play It Loud!" that focused on teenage rebellion and helped build a strong, edgy image. During the Nintendo 64 era, the slogan was "Get N or get out." For the GameCube, the "Who Are You?" campaign connected games to players' identities. The Nintendo DS used the tagline "Touching is Good." The Wii used "Wii would like to play" to promote games like Super Mario Galaxy and Super Paper Mario. The Nintendo 3DS used "Take a look inside," and the Wii U used "How U will play next." The Nintendo Switch uses "Switch and Play" in North America and "Play anywhere, anytime, with anyone" in other regions.
During the 1990s, when Nintendo was very successful, its name was often used to refer to any video game console, even if it wasn’t made by Nintendo. To protect its trademark, Nintendo encouraged people to use the term "game console" instead. This helped keep its name from becoming a common word.
Nintendo operates or licenses retail stores around the world. In Hong Kong, a company not owned by Nintendo runs several Nintendo Switch-focused stores under the name NSEW. The first store opened in March 2020 in Sham Shui Po, and two more stores and a temporary pop-up store later opened at Hong Kong International Airport. Another Nintendo Switch-focused store, Assemble, opened in Wan Chai on November 14, 2024. This store has a section dedicated to Cygames, a third-party developer.
In June 2019, Nintendo’s official distributor in Israel, TorGaming Ltd., opened the second physical Nintendo retail store in the world, called Nintendo Israel, at Dizengoff Center in Tel Aviv. This was the second-largest launch at the center.
On February 1, 2019, Nintendo announced it would open Nintendo Tokyo at Shibuya Parco department store in the fall of that year. This was its first self-managed store in Japan. The store opened on November 22, 2019. Since then, two more stores have opened in Japan: Nintendo Osaka on November 11, 2022, and Nintendo Kyoto on October 17, 2023.
In May 2012, Shas Samurai, Nintendo’s representative in Saudi Arabia, opened a "Nintendo World Store" at Al Faisaliah Mall in Riyadh.
Nintendo’s first retail store, Nintendo World (now called Nintendo New York), opened on May 14, 2005, at the former location of the Pokémon Center in New York City. Its second U.S. store, Nintendo San Francisco, opened on May 15, 2025, in Union Square.
The Nintendo of America headquarters in Redmond, Washington, has a private store open only to employees and invited guests.
Nintendo also opened temporary pop-up stores in 2021 in several Japanese cities and later in 2023 in Seoul, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
Since the 1960s, Nintendo’s most recognizable logo has been the oval racetrack shape, especially the red-colored wordmark on a white background, used in Western markets from 1985 to 2006. In Japan, a black-and-white version without a colored background was used on Famicom, Super Famicom, Nintendo 64, GameCube, and handheld console packaging. In 2006, with the launch of the Wii, Nintendo changed its logo to a gray version without a colored background, making the wordmark transparent. This variation remains the official corporate logo. Since 2016, a white version on a red background has been used for consumer products and marketing, especially with the Nintendo Switch launched in 2017.
Policy
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Unlike most Japanese companies, Nintendo has usually kept a large amount of cash instead of using the extra money for investments, buying back stock, or giving dividends. This policy was started by Hiroshi Yamauchi. As of September 2025, the company is estimated to have ¥1.5 trillion in cash reserves, which is about 120% of its sales. This large cash reserve helped Nintendo recover from poor sales of the GameCube and Wii U, and it also gave the company financial support for long-term projects.
In March 2026, Nintendo of America filed a lawsuit asking for a refund after the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the second Trump administration's use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose tariffs was illegal. Nintendo of America's lawsuit is asking for an unspecified amount of a refund, plus interest. The lawsuit says that the company has been significantly harmed by the illegal use of executive orders and the payment of the IEEPA duties. It also mentions that the tariffs were applied to other countries, including Mexico, Canada, and China.
For many years, Nintendo had strict content guidelines for video games published on its consoles. Although Nintendo allowed graphic violence in its video games released in Japan, nudity and sexuality were not allowed. Former Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi believed that allowing the licensing of pornographic games would damage the company's image. Nintendo of America had even stricter rules, and games released for Nintendo consoles could not include nudity, sexuality, profanity (including racism, sexism, or slurs), blood, graphic or domestic violence, drugs, political messages, or religious symbols, except for widely unpracticed religions, such as the Greek Pantheon. The Japanese parent company was worried that enforcing Japanese standards on North American and European children might be seen as a "Japanese invasion." Some exceptions have happened: Bionic Commando (though swastikas were removed in the US version), Smash TV, and Golgo 13: Top Secret Episode contain human violence, the latter also containing implied sexuality and tobacco use. River City Ransom and Taboo: The Sixth Sense contain nudity, and the latter also contains religious images, as do Castlevania II and III.
Nintendo's content policy is responsible for the Genesis version of Mortal Kombat selling more than double the number of units compared to the Super NES version. This happened because Nintendo forced its publisher, Acclaim, to change the game's graphics, making blood look like sweat and reducing the level of violence. In contrast, Sega allowed the Genesis version to keep its original gore (though a code was needed to unlock it). The following year, Nintendo allowed the Super NES version of Mortal Kombat II to be released without censorship, but it had a content warning on the packaging. Early Megami Tensei titles were not released in the West due to Nintendo's content guidelines regarding religious symbols. The first Megami Tensei title to be localized was the Virtual Boy title Jack Bros., and mainline titles started being localized with Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey in 2010. The series, along with the spin-off Persona games, have since been released on Nintendo platforms worldwide. Shin Megami Tensei V became a Nintendo Switch exclusive on release, and Persona 5 Royal was released on the Switch.
Video game rating systems were introduced with the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) in 1994 and the Pan European Game Information (PEGI) in 2003. Nintendo stopped most of its censorship policies, allowing consumers to make their own choices. Today, changes to the content of games are usually done by the game's developer or, sometimes, at the request of Nintendo. The only clear rule is that ESRB AO-rated games will not be licensed on Nintendo consoles in North America. This rule is also followed by Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo's main competitors. Nintendo has allowed several mature-content games to be published on its consoles, including Perfect Dark, Conker's Bad Fur Day, the Doom series, BMX XXX, the Resident Evil series, Killer7, the Mortal Kombat series, the Wolfenstein series, Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem, BloodRayne, Geist, Dementium: The Ward, Bayonetta 2, Devil's Third, and Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water.
Some games have still been modified. For example, Konami had to remove all references to cigarettes from the 2000 Game Boy Color game Metal Gear: Ghost Babel (though earlier versions of Metal Gear, such as the GameCube game Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes and the 3DS game Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater 3D, included such references). Also, maiming and blood were removed from the Nintendo 64 version of Cruis'n USA. Another example is the Game Boy Advance game Mega Man Zero 3, where a boss named Hellbat Schilt in the Japanese and European versions was renamed Devilbat Schilt in the North American version. In North American versions of the Mega Man Zero games, enemies and bosses killed with a saber attack do not bleed as they do in the Japanese versions. However, the release of the Wii included several more controversial games, such as Manhunt 2, No More Heroes, The House of the Dead: Overkill, and MadWorld, the latter three of which were initially published only for the console. The Call of Duty franchise, which includes strong violence and depictions of blood and gore, also saw releases on the Wii and Wii U.
Some mature-rated titles published for the Nintendo Switch and its successor, the Nintendo Switch 2, were not changed. Games like CD Projekt Red's The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077 were released without modifications on both consoles. In 2026, the game Dispatch was released on both consoles, but it was censored, with the developers stating that Nintendo's "content policies" were the reason. This led to renewed discussions about Nintendo's policies.
Before 1993, Nintendo of America had guidelines that its licensees had to follow to make games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, in addition to the above content guidelines. These guidelines were enforced through the 10NES lockout chip. The license guidelines stated:
The last rule was avoided in several ways. For example, Konami wanted to produce more games for Nintendo's consoles, so it formed Ultra Games and later Palcom to produce more games as a technically different publisher. This made it harder for smaller or emerging companies to compete, as they could not afford to start more companies. Another effect was that Square Co. (now Square Enix) executives suggested that the cost of publishing games on the Nintendo 64, along with the level of censorship and control Nintendo had over its games, especially Final Fantasy VI, were reasons for shifting their focus to Sony's PlayStation console.
In 1993, a class action lawsuit was filed against Nintendo, claiming that its lockout chip allowed unfair business practices. The case was settled, with the condition that California consumers received a $3 discount coupon for a game of Nintendo's choice.
Nintendo has generally been proactive in protecting its intellectual property in both hardware and software. Nintendo's protection of its properties started as early as the arcade release of Donkey Kong, which was widely cloned on other platforms, a common practice for popular arcade games at the time. Nintendo tried to take legal action to stop the release of these unauthorized clones, but it is estimated that it still lost $100 million in potential sales due to the clones. Since then, Nintendo has been active in preventing copyright infringement.
Legacy
Nintendo has led the way in innovation for many years, changing the way games are played. These changes were not always popular, but Nintendo's influence is clear in the gaming industry, making it one of the most important companies in the field.
Hiroshi Yamauchi's choices to bring Nintendo into the world of electronic games helped the company succeed and kept the industry alive. His actions helped people believe in electronic games again after the U.S. market struggled in the early 1980s. By 1991, Nintendo was the most successful company in Japan, with its products changing how people play games. Unlike many other companies, Nintendo focused more on selling game titles than selling consoles.
Nintendo's focus on quality and innovation made it a company that puts customers first. This helped it stand out from competitors like Sony and Microsoft. Since 2013, Forbes magazine has listed Nintendo as one of the "World's Best Employers," considering factors like work environment and diversity. In 2018, Time magazine named Nintendo one of the "50 Genius Companies" of the year, noting that the company has a habit of making a comeback, such as with the success of the Nintendo Switch compared to the Wii U. In 2018, Nintendo's capital was over ten billion yen, and its sales reached more than nine billion dollars, mostly in North America, making it one of Japan's most valuable companies.
Nintendo's characters have greatly influenced modern popular culture. Mario, once a simple company symbol, is now a cultural icon and one of the most famous characters in gaming. John Taylor of Arcadia Investment Corp. said Mario is the most valuable character in electronic gaming. Other well-known characters include Princess Peach, Pikachu, Link, Donkey Kong, Kirby, and Samus Aran.